Monday, 10 June 2013

Home Bakers Challenge is a baking group for bloggers and non-bloggers started by Priya, where we are given a recipe each month to challenge ourselves; andshowcase it on the 10-12 of next month. I had posted earlier, how joining this group had motivated me to start my journey into blogosphere here. To find out more about the group, visit here.

This month's challenge was hosted by Sangee Vijay, who went with the fruit of the month (read: MANGO!!) and gave us two versions of "Mango-marble cake" to try.....one was the egg version, and the other, eggless.I decided to try the eggless version.

The cake was soft, moist and full of mango flavor. However, despite being dense, it wasn't heavy.....and coupled with chocolate, it became a match made in heaven!! It kept well till the next day.....well! that's how long it took, before it was all gone!!

If the batter be an indication, then I knew I was in for a real treat!

Just look at those contrasting blobs of batter foretelling the yumminess that lies ahead....

Though this is not my first attempt at marbling.....I am prone to goose-bumps and anxiety attacks whenever the critical moment arrives.....So I called upon all my guardian angels, and with bated breath, I swirled it.....and..............

...thankfully! it came out nicely!! Well, this is my favorite pan when it comes to creating marbles....maybe coz it's easy creating a pattern in a square, or, a rectangular pan. You move across the breadth...up and down...up and down. Then you slosh across the length...left to right...right to left. But don't get carried away, just once or twice is enough.....you don't want to end up with just one flavor!Anyways, I won't exhaust you any more! Coming to the recipe:YIELD: Original recipe yielded a 9" loaf; I halved the recipe and got a 6.5"X 3" cake.CHANGES I MADE: I used chocolate instead of cocoa (to make it more chocolatey!!). I also used butter instead of oil (in orig. recipe) as I love my cakes buttery. Also, as fruit purees make the cakes dense, I used cake flour, to keep it light. So here it goes...

WHAT YOU NEED:1 cup + 2 Tbsp Cake Flour3/4 cup - 1/2 cup sugar (depending on the sweetness of your mango pulp)3/4 tsp Baking Powder1/4 tsp Baking soda2-1/2 Tbsp Butter1 tsp Vanilla Extract1/2 cup Mango pulp (canned,or, cut and pureed at home)1/4 cup Buttermilk1/4 cup Chocolate, meltedWHAT YOU DO:Pre-heat your oven to 350 F/ 180 C. Grease and line your pan.Sieve together flour, baking powder and soda, together in a bowl 3-4 times.Cream butter and sugar in a bowl. Add vanilla to buttermilk. To the creamed butter, add mango pulp and mix well. Add flour and buttermilk alternately to the butter mix. Now scoop out 1/3rd of this batter and mix it with melted chocolate. If you want more of chocolate then you can use 1/2 of the batter instead of 1/3.In your pan, drop your chocolate and mango batter in an alternate fashion, so that the same flavors are not side by side. Using a tooth-pick/ cake skewer, first draw horizontal lines (along the length of the pan), then draw vertical lines, along the breadth of the pan. That's it!Pop into the oven and bake at 350 F/ 180 C for 35-40 mins. Start checking at 35 mins with a skewer, so as not to over-bake it.

PLS NOTE:The outcome of the flavor and sweetness, depends a lot on the type of mango used. So use only ripe and flavorful mangoes. I love "Dussheri" variety, but due to its non-availability at my place, had to suffice with "Safeda" variety. Safeda is more tangy and sour, than sweet, hence the increased amount of sugar in the recipe!You can substitute Buttermilk with 1/4 cup milk + 1/2 tsp Vinegar/ Lemon juice.To get 1 cup cake flour, take (1 cup - 2 Tbsp) All-purpose flour, and add 2 Tbsp cornflour to it.

Here's one more peep....

Who wants a bite...??!!!Linking this to Home Bakers Challenge hosted by Sangee.....